“No,” he said on a chuckle.
Fink inched closer, pulling a syringe from his pocket.
“Clowns make you laugh.Don’t they?”she asked.
Burke nodded.“Halloween was last week, babe.”
Fink pulled the cap off the needle and pocketed it.He couldn’t leave any evidence behind.
She nodded.“You’re right.”
“So, what’s with the getup?”Burke gestured in her direction.
Fink cautiously stepped closer.
Sydney pouted as she put her hands on her hips and glanced down at her skimpy outfit.“You don’t like it?”
“I didn’t say that,” Burke protested.
“Then youdolike it?”she asked as she rocked up onto the balls of her Converse-All-Star-clad feet.
Burke whispered something Fink couldn’t hear and gave her the once-over.
“Yeah.”Burke scrubbed a hand over his face.
How had this guy not noticed Fink yet?He was within inches of Burke.The longshoreman hadn’t glanced in his direction.His drunken focus was solely on Sydney.
For reasons Fink wasn’t ready to admit, ire burned through his veins.This jackoff was ogling Sydney like a piece of prime rib.At this point, Fink didn’t care what the hell he’d done to get a contract out on him.For this indiscretion alone, he deserved to die.
“Good, then I was an effective distraction,” she said as she brought her hand to her face, kissed the tips of her fingers, and blew in Burke’s direction.
“What?”Blinking a few times, the longshoreman took a step away, but it was too late.
Fink slapped his gloved hand on the back of Burke’s neck as he jabbed the syringe into his jugular and pressed the plunger.The milky white liquid disappeared into the longshoreman’s veins.
“What the—”
Burke’s eyes rolled into his head as the propofol took effect.
Sydney rushed toward them as Burke’s knees gave out.Fink looped an arm around the man and caught him before he fell to the concrete.Preventing someone from hitting the ground was a hell of a lot easier than it was to lift him.
Deadweight was just as heavy, though.Thankfully, Sydney came to the rescue.She looped the unconscious man’s arm over her shoulders and assumed a portion of his burden.
Two young ladies dressed in flashy short dresses approached them.They slowed their stride as they glanced in Fink, Sydney, and Burke’s direction.
“Come on, Uncle Joey, let’s get you in the truck,” she groaned.
“For fuck’s sake, Jen,” Fink grumbled, going along with the scene she set.“We left the party early for this?”
“My mom asked,” she lamented.
The two of them lied so effortlessly.Sydney thought quickly and was a damn fine actress.He picked up the narrative as though the two of them were of one mind.
The potential witnesses kept on walking.An argument between a young couple dragging a passed-out drunk relative from the bar district wasn’t their business.No one wanted in on that sort of drama.
Together, they tossed the longshoreman into the bed of the truck, covered him with a heavy moving blanket, and secured it with some rubber ties.
From the dosage Fink had administered, they had roughly half an hour to an hour before Burke would rouse.That should be enough to get him to their container for the evening’s festivities.
